My Yves-Klein outdoor wall

I don't know if you've got a copy of the May issue of Living Etc but last week, I got totally inspired by their suggestions to add colours on outside walls on pages 34 & 35 especially by the contrast of the Yves Klein-style blue (see IKB 79, 1959 which you can see at the Tate Modern) against a lighter, summery blue.

Living Etc suggests to use the Summery Blue Masonry paint from Homebase, £2.49 for 225ml and the Fidel Lime wash by Francesca's paints at £24.68 for 1l.I went to check out B&Q on my way to work but sadly it was a waste of time as they only had white, off-white and cream paints for brick walls (so much for creativity!) and I couldn't face the same outcome from Homebase but I went to our local shop who saved the party.The guy there (very helpful and friendly) offered to mix the paint for me - something that B&Q failed to suggest. and I was like..... OH YES! TELL ME MORE BABY! (well I didnt call him baby).So he pulled out various swatches and I had the time of my life selecting the hues for my wall....It was so exciting! In the end, I went for the Delft China (pale blue) and the Sapphire Springs 2 RB7 for the Yves Klein-style blue, both mixed with Dulux Trade Weathershield Smooth Masonry paint (about £18.50 for 2.5 Litre).Et voila!!!

Ignore the state of the garden....Steve has some master plans for itI love how my blue wall has turned out, it looks better than I expected and I wish I could take a decent picture of it but once we start planting some evergreen, they are just going to look amazing against the blue background. I also love how we can glimpse these uplifting hues of blue from various rooms at the back of the house. It makes me feel like I'm on holidays...bliss at home

How to do this (it's super easy):- For a better visual effect, paint 2/3 of your wall with dark paint and 1/3 with light paint- draw a line across your wall with masking tape then paint both upper and lower parts of the walls. Finish the area above the masking tape with a small paint as the surface is bound to be too rough to be precised with a roll or a large brush- Once dry, move the masking time to the bottom of the upper area which is now all painted and finish painting the lower part with a small brush and that's it....Next step is to make our little garden a haven of peace but that's Steve's territory who by the way I can't thank enough (and is Dad) for making this come true so quickly and looking so fabulous.